scholarly journals Point-of-care digital cytology with artificial intelligence for cervical cancer screening at a peripheral clinic in Kenya

Author(s):  
Oscar Holmstrom ◽  
Nina Linder ◽  
Harrison Kaingu ◽  
Ngali Mbuuko ◽  
Jumaa Mbete ◽  
...  

Cervical cancer is highly preventable but remains a common and deadly cancer in areas without screening programmes. Pap smear analysis is the most commonly used screening method but is labour-intensive, subjective and requires access to medical experts. We developed a diagnostic system in which microscopy samples are digitized at the point-of-care (POC) and analysed by a cloud-based deep-learning system (DLS) and evaluated the system for the detection of cervical cell atypia in Pap smears at a peripheral clinic in Kenya. A total of 740 conventional Pap smears were collected, digitized with a portable slide scanner and uploaded over mobile networks to a cloud server for training and validation of the system. In total, 16,133 manually-annotated image regions where used for training of the DLS. The DLS achieved a high average sensitivity (97.85%; 95% confidence interval (CI) 83.95-99.75%) and area under the curve (AUCs) (0.95) for the detection of cervical-cellular atypia, compared to the pathologist assessment of digital and physical slides. Specificity was higher for high-grade atypia (95.9%; 95% CI 94.9-97.6%) than for low-grade atypia (84.2%; 95% CI 79.9-87.9%). Negative predictive values were high (99.3-100%), and no samples classified as high grade by manual sample analysis had false-negative assessments by the DLS. The study shows that advanced digital microscopy diagnostics supported by machine learning algorithms is implementable in rural, resource-constrained areas, and can achieve a diagnostic accuracy close to the level of highly trained experts.

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Huma Farid

Since the Papanicolaou (Pap) smear became implemented as a screening tool for cervical cancer, the mortality from cervical cancer has sharply declined in the United States. The discovery of the human papillomavirus (HPV) as the causative agent in the progression from dysplasia of the cervix to cervical cancer has changed the types of screening offered to women and the management of abnormal Pap smears. The management of abnormal Pap smears has changed depending on the age of the woman, with women under the age of 24 years being managed more conservatively given the low rates of cervical cancer in this age group and the high rates of regression of HPV and cytologic abnormalities. Colposcopy remains the first line in evaluation of an abnormal Pap smear, with excisional treatment reserved for high-grade dysplasias with a high risk of progression to cervical cancer. Treatment for cervical dysplasia is highly effective, but even after treatment, there is an increased risk of recurrence or progression to cervical cancer for up to 25 years, and these women should be followed closely.  This review contains 18 figures, 3 tables, and 43 references. Key words: cervical cancer screening, high-grade cervical dysplasia, human papillomavirus, low-grade cervical dysplasia, management of abnormal Pap smears, Pap smear, recurrence of cervical dysplasia, treatment of dysplasia


2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Huma Farid

Since the Papanicolaou (Pap) smear became implemented as a screening tool for cervical cancer, the mortality from cervical cancer has sharply declined in the United States. The discovery of the human papillomavirus (HPV) as the causative agent in the progression from dysplasia of the cervix to cervical cancer has changed the types of screening offered to women and the management of abnormal Pap smears. The management of abnormal Pap smears has changed depending on the age of the woman, with women under the age of 24 years being managed more conservatively given the low rates of cervical cancer in this age group and the high rates of regression of HPV and cytologic abnormalities. Colposcopy remains the first line in evaluation of an abnormal Pap smear, with excisional treatment reserved for high-grade dysplasias with a high risk of progression to cervical cancer. Treatment for cervical dysplasia is highly effective, but even after treatment, there is an increased risk of recurrence or progression to cervical cancer for up to 20 years, and these women should be followed closely. This review contains 18 figures, 3 tables and 53 references Key words: cervical cancer screening, high-grade cervical dysplasia, human papillomavirus, low-grade cervical dysplasia, management of abnormal Pap smears, Pap smear, recurrence of cervical dysplasia, treatment of dysplasia


2019 ◽  
Vol 4 (1) ◽  
pp. 2-8
Author(s):  
Pragya Gautam Ghimire ◽  
Durga BC Rawat ◽  
Kavita Sinha ◽  
Kamar Jahan ◽  
Richa Shrestha

Introduction: Cervical cancer is a common health problem in Nepal. There is paucity of data regarding the spectrum of findings in cervical Pap in western Nepal. This study was aimed to study the cytological patterns in cervical Pap smears in patients in a tertiary hospital of Nepal. Methods: This is a prospective, cross sectional, hospital based study. Clinical features of patients who had presented with Pap smear was noted in a structured proforma. Pap smears were studied by a senior pathologist and reported based on revised Bethesda system (2014). Results: Most of the cases belonged to 31-40 years 399 (42.8%). Unsatisfactory/ inadequate sample was present in 133(14.05%) with obscuration due to inflammatory exudate being most common cause. Negative for intraepithelial lesion or malignancy rate was noted in 798 (85.54%) with 477(51.2%) being normal findings. Epithelial cell abnormalities were noted in 116 (14.5 %) smears. Low-grade squamous intraepithelial lesion constituted 321(34.5%), High grade squamous intraepithelial lesion 273(29.3 %) and Atypical squamous cells of undetermined significance 153(16.4%) of epithelial cell abnormalities. Squamous cell carcinoma was present in 9(1%) of all reviewed smears. There was no statistical significance between the age and abnormalities of Pap smear (p=0.9). Conclusions: Pap smear is pivotal in cervical cancer screening in developing countries. It also identifies various inflammatory, infective, benign and malignant pathologies at the earliest thereby decreasing the morbidity and mortality.


2015 ◽  
Vol 5 (10) ◽  
pp. 820-823 ◽  
Author(s):  
S Pudasaini ◽  
KBR Prasad ◽  
SK Rauniyar ◽  
R Pathak ◽  
K Pande ◽  
...  

Background: Cervical cancer is a leading cause of mortality and morbidity among women worldwide and most common gynaecological cancer in developing countries. Papanicolaou smear is a simple and cost effective screening test for cervical cancer. The aim of this study is to evaluate and interpret the cervical pap smear cytology in a tertiary hospital. The interpretation and reporting of the pap smear is based on 2001Bethesda system.Materials and methods: This is a prospective study conducted in a tertiary hospital, Nepal Medical College over a period of two and a half years (January 2013 to June 2015). All cervical pap smears received in the department of Pathology in the study period were included.Results: A total of 4160 cervical pap smears were reported in the study period. Majority of the cases were Negative for Intraepithelial lesion or malignancy (87.9%). Bacterial vaginosis, atrophy and reactive cellular changes associated with inflammation were seen in 5.3%, 2.4% and 1.5% cases respectively.   Epithelial cell abnormalities (0.5%) include Atypical squamous cells of undetermined significance, Low grade squamous intraepithelial lesion and High grade intraepithelial lesion. 88% of Low grade squamous intraepithelial lesion was seen in reproductive age group (20-45 years).Conclusion: Cervical cancer is the most common gynaecological cancer in the developing countries. Pap smear is the simple and cost effective screening tool to detect pre invasive cervical epithelial lesions.


2020 ◽  
Vol 10 (1-s) ◽  
pp. 72-78
Author(s):  
Samira Meziani ◽  
Khadidja Haoud ◽  
Hayet Mehida ◽  
Norddine Menadi ◽  
Fatima Zohra Chenni ◽  
...  

Object: Cervical cancer of the uterine (CCU) is the first cancer of the genital tract. In Algeria, this cancer remains a real public health problem. The diagnosis is still done often with advanced stages which makes the therapeutic results modest and the cost of the high care. Methodology: Our study aims to elucidate the reality of this type of pathology in the region of Sidi Bel Abbes, northwestern Algeria. This retrospective and descriptive study was devoted to the epidemiological and clinical analysis of cervical cancer cases over a period of 3 years. Results: This study shows that out of a total of 500 smears recorded between (2014-2016) at the Ana-pathology laboratory level in Sidi Bel Abbes, we found that 230 smears presented precancerous lesions according to a cytological study, atypical squamous cells of undetermined significance (ASC-US: were 18%; low-grade squamous intraepithelial lesions (LSIL) were 20%, while high-grade squamous intraepithelial lesions (HSIL) were 8%. The results obtained according to the distribution of the patients in relation to the various factors: the most affected age group is late 46-55 years with a total of 40%; precocious age of 1st report 18-20 years is (38.2%); gestation 4-5 pregnancies and parities 4-5 children with a rate of (38.70% and 32.6%) respectively ; the hormonal state in genital activity is estimated at 62.2%; patients on oral contraception (OC) have a rate of 48.9%. Finally, more than half of the patients (57.8%), were able to have a biopsy within three to four months of the last smear. In histology, the presence of a HPV (Human Papilloma Virus) low grade lesion does not predict the evolution of this lesion. Conclusion: HPV can be oncogenic or non-oncogenic. it is the oncogenic HPV infection that is the main risk factor for developing a high grade lesion  and cervical cancers outside the associated cofactors. Keywords: Pap Smear, Precancerous lesion, Cancer, Cervix, Screening


2020 ◽  
Vol 16 (2) ◽  
pp. 90
Author(s):  
Belet Lydia Ingrit ◽  
Martina Elfrida Sinaga ◽  
Puji Astutik ◽  
Fransiska Ompusunggu

The prevalence of cervical cancer in Indonesia is very high, which it is estimated that every day 40-45 new cases appear. The purpose of this study was to describe nurses’ attitude about pap smear as an early detection of cervical cancer in a hospital in western Indonesia. The research method was used descriptive quantitative with purposive sampling technique. The results of this study shows that most of the respondents have the positive attitude in performing pap smears in the Western Indonesia hospitals with the percentage of 97,5% and the rest indicate negative attitude. The conclusion of this study is that the positive attitude of nurses towards early detection of pap smears is expected to be maintained and furthermore the hospital continues to provide health facilities for female nurses to carry out early detection of cervical cancer as an annual program from hospital.


2021 ◽  
Vol 8 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Mariana T. Rezende ◽  
Raniere Silva ◽  
Fagner de O. Bernardo ◽  
Alessandra H. G. Tobias ◽  
Paulo H. C. Oliveira ◽  
...  

AbstractAmidst the current health crisis and social distancing, telemedicine has become an important part of mainstream of healthcare, and building and deploying computational tools to support screening more efficiently is an increasing medical priority. The early identification of cervical cancer precursor lesions by Pap smear test can identify candidates for subsequent treatment. However, one of the main challenges is the accuracy of the conventional method, often subject to high rates of false negative. While machine learning has been highlighted to reduce the limitations of the test, the absence of high-quality curated datasets has prevented strategies development to improve cervical cancer screening. The Center for Recognition and Inspection of Cells (CRIC) platform enables the creation of CRIC Cervix collection, currently with 400 images (1,376 × 1,020 pixels) curated from conventional Pap smears, with manual classification of 11,534 cells. This collection has the potential to advance current efforts in training and testing machine learning algorithms for the automation of tasks as part of the cytopathological analysis in the routine work of laboratories.


2018 ◽  
Vol 4 (Supplement 2) ◽  
pp. 52s-52s
Author(s):  
B. Srilatha ◽  
Q. Huang ◽  
M.S. Hafidza ◽  
N.K. Asarpota

Background: Cervical cancer is the fourth common malignancy in women worldwide and clinical Papanicolaou (Pap) smear test is a relatively inexpensive yet efficacious screening method for the detection of precancerous or cancerous lesions. Aim: Herein, we sought to quantify the incidence and prevalence of abnormal cervical cytology in asymptomatic women who underwent routine Papanicolaou test screening at the community-based clinical setting of our Singapore Cancer Society's Multi-Service Centre. Methods: This retrospective study reviewed a total of 15,195 reports of cervical Pap smears performed from January 2015 to December 2017 to delineate epithelial abnormalities. Additionally, a descriptive cross-sectional analysis was carried out on the corroborative demographic and clinical data retrieved from the relevant case notes. Results: The mean age of women recruited for screening in this period was 49.0 ± 11.1 years. A total of 623 (4.1%) were identified with abnormal Papanicolaou test results viz., i. atypical squamous/glandular cells of undetermined significance (n=592; 3.9%), ii. low/high grade squamous intraepithelial lesions (n=28; 0.18%) and iii. high grade squamous intraepithelial lesion, suspicious of squamous cell carcinoma/adenocarcinoma (n=3; 0.02%). Clinical history in the latter two cohorts (n=31; 0.2%) revealed first sexual encounter at age ≤ 20 years (54.8%), ≥ 2 sexual partners (38.7%) or abnormal vaginal discharge (29.0%). An 80.6% and 6.5% had undergone Papanicolaou test or HPV - human papillomavirus - vaccination in the past. History of smoking, long-term contraceptive use and treatment of STI(s) were reported by 22.6%, 3.2% and 6.5% respectively. Conclusion: Cervical cancer originates in the transformation zone of the uterine cervix and screening for abnormal cytology is the cornerstone in early detection. The low percentage of epithelial cell abnormality identified in this large population sampling over three years confirms that routine Papanicolaou test testing would suffice as a cost-effective screening approach to detect precancerous cervical lesions. Where imperative, necessary follow-up on unsatisfactory Papanicolaou test result(s), HPV genotyping and/or due referral procedures would significantly aid in reducing the cervical cancer burden for women in the susceptible age range.


2019 ◽  
pp. 1-4
Author(s):  
Mwesigwa Boaz ◽  
◽  
Andrew Livex Okwi Okwi ◽  
Othieno Emmanuel ◽  
◽  
...  

Background: Cervical cancer is an important public health problem. In Uganda, it ranks the most frequent cause of cancer among women aged between 15 to 44 years of age. Early detection and eradication of cervical cancer and its precursor lesions is the mainstay for control of this disease. The Pap smear method is the most cost-effective means of screening cervical pre-malignant, malignant processes and non-neoplastic lesions. Aim: To describe the cervical cytological abnormalities as detected byPap smear method and to determine the prevalence of such abnormalities Methodology: This was a prospective study, in which a total of 175 women were recruited from May to June, 2016. Cervical samples were collected from these women and stained according to the papanicolaou staining protocol. Results were reported using the 2014 Bethesda reporting system. Results: Out of 175 cases, 163 (93.1%) were reported as negative for intraepithelial lesion or malignancy [NILM]. Cervical intraepithelial lesions were reported in 12 (6.9%) cases which included atypical squamous cells of undetermined significance [ASCUS] in 4(2.3%) cases, atypical squamous cells cannot exclude high grade squamous intraepithelial lesions [ASCH] in 1(0.6%) case, low-grade squamous intraepithelial lesion [LSIL] in 5 (2.9%) cases, high-grade squamous intraepithelial lesion [HSIL] in 1(0.6%) case and atypical glandular cells [AGC] in 1(0.6%) case. Conclusion: Cervical cytology by Pap smear method should be used to screen women routinely because it is an effective method in detecting pre-malignant and malignant lesions of the cervix.


CytoJournal ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 18 ◽  
pp. 16
Author(s):  
Ahmed Alrajjal ◽  
Vaishali Pansare ◽  
Moumita Saha Roy Choudhury ◽  
Mir Yousufuddin Ali Khan ◽  
Vinod B. Shidham

For every 100,000 women in the United States, eight new cervical cancer cases and two deaths are reported as per the most recent (2017) Center of Disease Control and Prevention statistics. Of all the gynecologic cancers (ovary, uterus, cervix, vagina, and vulva), only cervical cancer has a screening test. Cervical Pap test (or Pap smear) is the best screening method for cervical precancerous lesions and is best reported using a unified and a well-established reporting system like The Bethesda System. In this system, “Epithelial cell abnormality: Squamous” includes squamous intraepithelial lesion (SIL) category which encompasses a spectrum of squamous cell lesions starting from the precancerous lesions of low-grade SIL (LSIL) to high-grade SIL (HSIL), and ultimately invasive squamous cell carcinoma. However, depending on the qualitative and quantitative limitations with the specimen, some equivocal morphological features suggestive of squamous cell abnormality may fall under equivocal category: “Atypical Squamous Cells” (ASCs), which are subdivided into two categories; “Atypical Squamous Cells of Undetermined Significance” (ASC-US) or “Atypical Squamous Cells, HSIL cannot be excluded” (ASC-H), based on the suspected underlying lesion LSIL versus HSIL, respectively. This review provides the key cytologic features that distinguish Bethesda squamous categories from other important entities, using algorithmic approach and illustrations of common cytomorphologic patterns for clear identification of those entities in practice. The important mimickers which may be considered during the differential interpretation of SIL are discussed and presented here in a brief cytomorphologic review.


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